Dark Riders
History Origin The Dark Riders were originally known as the Riders of the Storm and were a band of fanatics that served En Sabah Nur. Apocalypse created the group and instilled in them his Darwinian ideals namely that the strongest and fitted would inherit the Earth whilst the weak were unfit and needed to be culled. Thousands of years ago, they were well established as an elite cadre of warriors that were drawn from around the world. During that time, they were dispatched to slay the mysterious Traveller where Ozymandias witnessed their defeat. This saw En Sabah Nur confront his pursuer where the immortal Mutant was killed in the struggle when he was shot in the head. As a result of their doctrine, the Dark Riders swore allegiance to the Traveller but he refused to wear the crown and instead passed it to Ozymandias. Apocalypse vs. Dracula In 1897, the Clan Akkaba came under attack from the vampire forces of Dracula who sought revenge against Apocalypse. This was because of Dracula's mortal defeat in Admania in 1459 and he sought to get his vengeance against En Sabah Nur. This saw numerous Clan members secretly being transformed into vampire Mutants and among these transformed beings was Hamilton Slade who was the strongest of the Akkaba. As a result, the inner council of the Clan assembled and decided to awaken their lord from the Rejuvenation Chamber where he killed one of their number as this was the price for his awakening. During this time, he worked alongside the Clan and Professor Abraham Van Helsing in defeating the vampire threat which turned out to be greater than he had expected. This saw both the Rejuvenation Chamber and Clan Akkaba destroyed with Apocalypse along with his surviving forces having to fight the undead threat. Despite facing an army of vampires, Apocalypse did not lack support as he decided to summon the Riders of the Dark to aid him with this army battling the undead forces whilst En Sabah Nur himself fought Dracula. Ultimately, with the aid of Professor Van Helsing, they were able to defeat Dracula and ensure the continued existence of Apocalypse's reign. Cable and Deadpool The Dark Riders continued to operate even after their master was destroyed during his attempt to ascend through The Twelve. When Cable had replaced his lost psionic powers with cybernetics, he disappeared in order to track down and finally defeat Apocalypse. This saw his friends Deadpool and Irene Merryweather attempt to track him down. Their search took them to Akkaba in Egypt to a pyramid that was actually the place where the slain En Sabah Nur was being reborn. As a result, a group of Darkriders ambushed the pair where they fought against Wade Wilson who managed to cut through their number. Whilst fighting, Irene attempted to look deeper into the pyramid where she believed that Apocalypse was close to resurrecting. Her scream drew Deadpool's attention with the Darkriders following him into the inner chamber. From a burst of light, a figure emerged though this was not Apocalypse but rather Nathan Summers. At this point, the Darkriders bowed in reverence to him as he was the strongest fighter in the chamber. Nathan Summers claimed that he intended to save the world and had no intention of destroying Apocalypse at this point. Whilst moving into the resurrection chamber, a scared Irene Merryweather followed him rather than stay in the company of the Dark Riders. At this point, Cable revealed his own involvement in ensuring Apocalypse's resurrections by accidently allowed his Techno-Organic Virus infused blood to flow in En Sabah Nur. During this moment, Apocalypse resurrected and attacked Deadpool who shot bullets at the immortal Mutant. His early rebirth had left him weakened and Ozymandias stated that he needed to stand tall otherwise the Askani'Son would command his legions. Apocalypse managed to maintain his position and Deadpool was forced to battle the Darkriders. Despite this factor, Nathan Summers managed to defeat En Sabah Nur but refused to kill him as he wanted Apocalypse to serve as a focal point for the Mutant cause as Homo Superior had suffered due to the Decimation that stripped many of their powers. Thus, he allowed Apocalypse to live and the Darkriders once more bowed under En Sabah Nur's leadership as he vowed to make mankind suffer. His Darkrider warriors stayed bowing whilst their master went into a chrysalis chamber to complete his resurrection. Members Current *Coming Soon Former *Coming Soon Allies *Coming Soon Enemies *X-Men Notes *The ancient Darkriders that Cable fought in the past were all seemingly human in appearance though the ones he would fight in Cable and Deadpool had a more techno-organic appearance. *In the battle with Dracula, the Darkriders had a different costume that shrouded their true bodies thus its not known whether they were Mutants, Human or enhanced beings. Trivia *Deadpool during one battle with the Darkriders called them "living breathing walking McFarlane toys". Gallery *Dark Riders/Gallery Links *http://marvel.wikia.com/Riders_of_the_Storm *http://www.comicvine.com/dark-riders/65-41074/ Category:Teams